Permissibility of evaluation by the court of the quality of legal assistance provided by a defense lawyer in court proceedings

The essence of such a criminal procedural institute as the right to defence is studied in the context of obtaining qualified legal assistance in terms of compliance of such assistance with generally accepted standards of quality, integrity of the lawyer in relation to the client in the performance of his duties and functions in criminal proceedings. Through the study of judicial practice and individual legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation the issues related to the assessment by the court of the quality of legal assistance rendered by the defence lawyer to the accused in the course of criminal proceedings are considered. It is noted that gross and systematic violations committed by the lawyer-defender in court proceedings, which with a high degree of obviousness do not correspond to the essence of criminal defence, should not remain without a proper response from the court (judge). The conclusion is substantiated that the court should react to poor-quality assistance in the case when the violations committed by the defence counsel are intentional in nature.